I have a 2003 Ford Escape XLS 6cyl that will not shift out of park or start. I recently replaced the water pump and thermostat due to a overheating issue and now this. After replacing the water pump and putting on a new serpentine belt I started the truck and noticed that everything was working except the crank pully was not turning causing the belt to smoke a little. I turned the truck off messed with the pully (trying to get some movement) but I had no luck. I was leaving for vacation the next day so I figured I would pick up where I left off when I got home. When I got back into the truck for the first time and went to start it the truck would not start and when I say not start I mean it's like when you try to start a car that's in drive..I got nothing! Next, I noticed that I could not get the shifter out of park. I have taken the steering column apart and even after manually shifting it into neutral I get nothing (not a sound). I have checked all the relavent fuses (good), brake lights work, changed battery and positive battery cable end (some corrosion) none of this has made even the slightest difference. What am I missing? I read other post and it's always one or the other (not starting or won't shift out of park) I have the double wammy! Any chance somebody has a solution for me? I also hooked up my code reader and of course there are no codes found. Thanks for any help somebody can give me!

Could another solution be that it is in what I've heard described as transmission lock? My driveway is on a downward slope, could it have rolled enough to be stuck between gears after I took the old serpentein belt and water pump off? Because this just dosen't make sense, I changed the thermostat and drove it, it still got hot, I parked it, changed the water pump and put a new belt on, started it everything was moving except the crank pulley. I took everything back apart and put evrything back on (thinking I did something wrong) tried to start it and nothing, which brings me to now. What could have happened in that time frame to screw everything up?

All I know is after I got the new pump in and the new belt on I started it up and and could here the squealing. I got out looked and could the the smoke start to come off the belt from the pully not turning. I have not been able to get it out of park or start it since then. I guess I should have mentioned sooner that I did put the wrong water pump in at first, the same time the pully would not turn. I replaced the wrong one with the right one and that would be when all the current problems began. The 2003 ford escape had two different water pumps, one for trucks made Jan-Mar, the other for trucks made the rest of the year. Obviously, I should have noticed this but I was just wanting to get it fixed and was not paying attention...I guess.

There are two things you can try,
one is to remove the belt from the engine and attempt to start it. If it starts shut it off immediately since that would eliminate any engine problem.
The other is with the belt removed every pulley should be free to rotate except the crank pulley which only turns when the engine is running. One of them may be locked up. If so we can go from there. Could you be mistaking an air conditioner pulley for the crank pulley?

It's the crank pulley, when I use a pry bar I can get the pully to turn which also gets the pulleys on the other side of the engine to turn. Also, would having a pulley somewhere along the line cause it to not start or better yet, not allow it to shift out of park? I will obviously try your suggestion, I'm ready to break out my 20 pound sledge hammer and take my frustrations out on it. Oh, and just to clarify, you mean the belt that drives pretty much everything not the little serpentine belt, right?